


Grief Is Good

by BridgetMcKennitt



Category: Charlie Brown: Blockhead's Revenge
Genre: Community: fic_promptly, Developing Relationship, Late Night Conversations, M/M, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-29
Updated: 2015-05-29
Packaged: 2018-04-01 19:27:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4031794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BridgetMcKennitt/pseuds/BridgetMcKennitt
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Schroeder sat in front of his piano as he played a Mozart piece.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Grief Is Good

**Author's Note:**

> The fandom is from the Funny or Die video [Charlie Brown: Blockhead's Revenge](http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/fec6d23f5c/charlie-brown-blockheads-revenge).
> 
> Prompt: any, any, "Nobody is truly alone. Isn't that terrifying?"

Schroeder sat in front of his piano as he played a Mozart piece. It was almost midnight, but he couldn't fall asleep so he decided to practice instead. Earlier his friends tried to cajole him to go out to a nightclub to dance the night away, but he preferred sitting in front of his piano. Every so often, his phone would buzz with selfies of his friends out in the nightclub.

Schroeder sighed as he lifted his fingers from the piano keys. He picked up his phone and there was Lucy and Peppermint Patty making duck faces at the camera. In the background, he saw Linus flashing a peace sign. Schroeder loved his friends, but he wasn't going to deal with a sweaty crowd and terrible, loud music just for them. He texted back a reply, 'You guys look great,' before placing his phone back down on top of his piano.

He got up from his bench and headed towards the kitchen for a snack. Lucy made him a batch of peanut butter chocolate chip cookies with help from Marcie. The thing between him and Lucy was over, but every so often, she'd give him some baked goods of recipes she was testing out. It was nice what they had now and a lot less pressure. As he opened up his cookie jar and took out a cookie, he thought to himself that it was nice to eat whatever Lucy cooked for him since he wasn't much of a chef himself.

Just as he took a bite of a cookie, he heard a crashing noise behind him. Schroeder spun around and stared at Charlie standing in the doorway.

Schroeder swallowed his bite of cookie before blurting out, "Charlie? What are you doing here? I thought you were out with everyone else."

He wasn't afraid of Charlie, he had never been afraid of Charlie Brown, but he was a little wary around him. Last year during Halloween had been an eyeopener for all of them, but Charlie was on the road to getting better.

"Nah. I decided being around people wasn't that good for me." Charlie stepped closer towards Schroeder. "I figured you wouldn't be out at the nightclub either."

Schroeder wasn't going to ask how Charlie got into his house. Charlie wasn't going to harm him. Even last Halloween, Charlie never went after him. Besides, Schroeder would rather Charlie came to him than be left to his own devices. "Come on, Charlie. Grab the cookie jar and let's go watch a movie."

Schroeder watched as Charlie walked by him to grab the cookie jar before they walked out into the living room. He sat down, placed his feet on the coffee table in front of him, and grabbed the remote. "What did you want to watch?"

"Kill Bill, both volumes."

That was a surprise and Schroeder turned his head to look at Charlie. "Are you sure?" There was a lot of violence in the movies, it was a staple of Quentin Tarantino movies, and all of them had tried to keep Charlie away from anything that'd remind him of last Halloween. "I have a bunch of cooking shows queued up."

"Yeah, I'm sure." Charlie opened up the cookie jar and drew one out. "I'm not going to freak out if I see people kill each other." He flashed Schroeder a look and grinned at him. "You're not scared, are you?"

Schroeder snorted as he turned on the TV. "Of you? Never." He found Kill Bill and started it up.

As they watched the movie, Schroeder reached for some cookies to munch on. He could feel the warmth coming off of Charlie as they sat next to each other. Every so often, Charlie's elbow would bump against him. Out of the corner of his eye, Schroeder would watch Charlie to judge his reactions towards the movie. Despite what Charlie thought, Schroeder did not want his friend to relapse. Once was enough.

When the movie ended, Schroeder put on the sequel and got up to make some popcorn. "I'll be right back," he told Charlie as he went into the kitchen. As the microwave was heating up the popcorn, Schroeder looked inside his fridge for something easy to make. Cookies and popcorn was not real dinner food and he had forgotten to eat earlier. He suspected the same could be said for Charlie. Schroeder got some meat and cheese out and began making some sandwiches.

"Nobody is truly alone."

Schroeder didn't jump in surprise from the sound of Charlie's voice. He turned his head towards Charlie. Why hadn't he noticed Charlie standing so close to him? "What was that?"

"Nobody is truly alone," Charlie said, repeating the words. "Isn't that terrifying? I thought it was the opposite case before. I thought being alone was terrifying. Everyone was coupling up and yet there was me, all alone. The pun of every joke. I've learned better now."

"Charlie Brown, you're not alone. You were never alone. Being with people shouldn't be terrifying, not when we love you." Schroeder dropped the bread slices to give Charlie a hug. He wasn't normally a touchy-feely type, he preferred being on the edge of his group of friends, but for Charlie, it didn't matter. He could be as affectionate as he wanted to because it was something Charlie needed.

Charlie wrapped his arms around him and they stood there in the kitchen just hugging. The microwave beeped, but Schroeder made no attempt to get the popcorn. It was nice to hug Charlie.

When Schroeder felt Charlie's lips on his neck, it didn't seem so out of place in their little bubble. Schroeder just hugged Charlie a little tighter before stepping back. "I'm almost done making us sandwiches. Want to grab the popcorn and some sodas?"

Charlie nodded and headed to the microwave. Schroeder placed the sandwiches on a plate and followed Charlie to the living room. This time, they sat down shoulder to shoulder, pressed close together. He offered Charlie a sandwich and Charlie took it, his fingers lingering on Schroeder's hand.

It wasn't like he had ever thought about Charlie Brown like that before. If there was anything in his life that drew his obsession and love, it was music. Lucy managed to get close to him because of how strong and stubborn she was when she wanted something. But that wasn't how Charlie Brown worked at all. He was Charlie Brown, the most Charliest Brown of all the Charlie Browns in the world.

Charlie leaned his head on Schroeder's shoulder and Schroeder snuck his arm across Charlie's back to pull him in close. This was something they should talk about, but Schroeder wasn't much of a talker and Charlie didn't say anything. Then again, maybe they didn't have to say anything at all right now. It was late, way past midnight, and they were comfortable. They could talk about it tomorrow if Charlie wanted to. Schroeder didn't mind following Charlie's lead.

He decided to be bold and kiss the top of Charlie's bald head just as Beatrix found Bill on the screen. Charlie didn't say anything to the kiss. He merely snuggled deeper against Schroeder.

Yeah, he could do this.


End file.
